


Interrogations

by Bitterblue



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:04:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5297534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bitterblue/pseuds/Bitterblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper needs a little while to write, not distracted by her sister or Blue, and receives an unexpected visitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interrogations

**Author's Note:**

> Anon prompt on tumblr: Fic Prompt: While Nora treats Nat to a bowl of noodles, Codsworth takes the opportunity to 'interrogate' Piper about their relationship at the Publick Occurrences office aka Robot Battle Butler is frantic and overprotective. Bonus points if Nat laid down the law over her bowl.

When Piper asks you and Nat to clear out for the afternoon so she can  _actually_ get some writing done, you decide that lunch is in order. You've spent so much time with Piper that you feel almost like you grew up with Nat, too, but the reality of it is that you've spent most of your time with Piper being shot at, hiding, running: high-intensity sort of situations that lend themselves to developing high-intensity feelings quite quickly. Add in the fact that Piper's a natural storyteller who adores her sister, and you know more about Nat than you remember about your own older brother.

The only place you can think of in Diamond City to bring Nat is the noodle shop. Takahashi greets you both as you sit, and Nat folds her arms, giving you her best appraising look.

"So. You're dating my sister."

This is not the lunch you'd intended to have.

You can feel your face getting hot, eyes darting to look at anything but the frowning twelve year old in front of you. You and Piper haven't really talked about what it is you're doing, exactly. High-intensity, whatever it is. What you're clear about is this: you would rather be with her than not, her smile makes your pulse race, her hand in yours as you scramble through the wasteland makes your heart feel whole again. You sleep curled up around her, but you haven't kissed her. You hold up a hand, as if it will stop this line of questioning that you suspect is coming — Nat is truly Piper's sister. "It's more complicated than that, Nat."

She purses her lips. "No, it's not. She's crazy about you. She won't quit talking about you and I know you like her, too, and you're gone together  _all_ the time. You're dating."

"I...it doesn't work that way."

"Whatever. The point is, you had better be nice to her. Keep her safe. Don't get eaten by deathclaws. She's the only sister I've got — the only  _family_ I've got — and she taught me how to use a gun when I was eight. So. You know."

Of all the things you haven't expected since you escaped the vault, getting The Talk from a pre-teen about her older sister certainly ranks highly for least expected.  You manage an embarrassed smile, Takahashi setting the noodles in front of you both. "I'll be good to her."

This seems to satisfy Nat, who tucks into her noodles with enthusiasm. After a few bites, she looks over at you again. "Piper said you're super smart. Can you help me with part of my homework?"

* * *

 

It's not that you don't love spending all of your time in Nora's company so much as Nora is inherently distracting. You're lucky that it hasn't gotten you into real trouble — t's all too easy to imagine you both walking into a trap because you were more focused on how her eyes light up when she laughs than on keeping you both safe. You haven't been home as much as you'd prefer, lately, too, and Nat's excited to have you around. So, if you want to get any writing at all done (and you do, writing feels as necessary as breathing and you're starting to suffocate), Nora and Nat both need to go be somewhere else for a little while. They do without much protest when you ask, which is appreciated.

Starting after they're gone is a little difficult, though. You find yourself putting around the shop end of the building, organizing your folders of leads for good stories, making sure the press is in good shape, arranging your pens in order of most broken to least. When the door opens, you straighten up quickly, banging your head on the edge of a shelf. You groan a little, rubbing the spot, and raise your eyebrows at your visitor.

"Ah, hello, mum. I am Codsworth, we have met previously as you are...acquainted with my employer. Yes. Well. I wanted to drop by and speak with you." The robot hovers near the door, both literally and metaphorically, and you raise your eyebrows.

"I thought she left you to watch over things in Sanctuary Hills. That's a bit of a hike just to drop in and chat." You walk around to the other side of your desk, leaning back to half-sit on the edge.

"Quite true, quite true. You are correct. Forgive me, though, mum, but I have worked for  _madam_ for over two centuries. A brisk trip was not out of the question." He puffs himself up, if a robot can, and tilts his head in a way that comes off distinctly paternalistic. "I came to ask that you state your intentions regarding her."

You laugh, startled, and stand up all the way. "Excuse me?"

"Your intentions, mum. What are they? Do you wish to  _marry_ her or simply dally about? I will remind you that I worked also for  _sir_ , her husband, and he was a very good man." You've met a lot of models of Mister Handy, some murderous, some innocuous, some kind. You don't think you've ever met one who has managed to make you feel so small. You can feel your face frozen in something close enough to a smile to, hopefully, fool him into believing you aren't upset.

What, precisely, Nora is to you is a thing you can't answer easily. It had been easy, natural, to throw your hat in with hers when she first arrived in Diamond City: the chance for endless stories to run in the paper, the chance to do some tangible good outside of words, the chance to follow this person who made your heart leap before you'd even known her was too good to pass up. You've fought together, watched each other's backs, for months, struggling to piece together the story of what happened to her son and the last connection she has to the world before the war. You know that you love having her close to you. You sleep better since she started to share a bed with you ( _for warmth_ , you'd both agreed on a very chilly December night, and then just never stopped). She is a constant source of distraction; it's too easy to daydream about kissing her for you to want to do anything else. You shift your weight uneasily, twisting your fingers together.

"I don't know. I haven't really talked to her about it." This seems to surprise Codsworth.

"Never? She talks about you constantly. Raves, even. Are you certain?"

Being grilled by a robot butler has never been on your to-do list. You hold your hands up defensively, frowning. "Never. I don't even think she likes me that way. You said it yourself — she has a husband. My intentions are to protect her, keep her company, keep her happy." Nate's been a sticking point in your daydreaming. She'd loved him enough to marry him, and you just can't compete with that. You've wondered sometimes if liking women is a side effect from radiation exposure when you were a kid. From what you've been able to find, there didn't seem to be very many references to ideas like that before the war. Just another way everything's gone wrong.

Codsworth scoffs. "She did have a husband, yes, and sir was a good man. But he has also been dead for a long time, and I believe that mum accepts the reality of that situation…" he trails off, pausing, "certainly better than I did. I have known her for a very long time, and I assure you that she speaks of you in the same tone as she did sir." He pauses again, and then adds helpfully, "I could provide an analysis of her speech pattern and precise wavelength if that would be helpful."

"I...no. Thank you. But no." You gesture towards the door. "I have work to finish, so if you don't mind?"

"Right. Good day, mum." At least he manages to close the door behind himself.

You move around the desk to sit in your chair, sighing deeply as you relax into the worn, familiar frame. It's not  _comfortable_ , but it's familiar.  _Like my feelings for Blue_ , you start to think and then roll your eyes at yourself for being ridiculous. "Piper Wright. You do not need to mope about a girl," you say to the empty building. "Especially if he's right and she likes you back."

Turns out she's distracting no matter what.


End file.
